Idle thoughts - The obvious edition

[patfanken]

Like the title suggests, there isn't much insight needed for this one. On this particular night, the team that had the best QB, made the most big plays on offense and defense, made the fewest mistakes and in most cases flat out played better won the game. Aside from the obvious here are some observations that I hope will make me feel better if I write them down.

1. Here is the most curious thing. Despite being clearly out played in most areas of the game and playing their worst game in the last 7, with 3 minutes to go in the game the Pats had the ball on the GB 40 behind by 5 points. I think that's worth repeating. Despite all the frustration and angst, our home team was a microhair catch from taking the lead in a game without the aid of any TO's or big breaks. That's how good our team is. Bad marks for playaaing their B game in an important game, but they didn't get a single good break (outside of the Adams drop) and still managed to keep the game constantly within reach.

2. Here are some of the things I did like.

a. I liked that after the running plays they gave up to open the game, with one exception, they shut the run down for the rest of the game. It showed a very rapid adjustment that cost them only 3 points

b. I loved the disciplined rush. I know it often looked ineffective, but the reality was it worked very well....for the most part

c. The Pats defense really was quite good. Unfortunately it seemed like in every series there was that ONE play that the Packers hit for a big play, and even on many of those, they were decently well covered and extremely well exectuted by Rodgers.

d. I loved/hated watching those simply beautiful passes perfectly thrown to Adams on those double moves, and those passes perfectly dropped in there on Ninko, all of which led to Packer scores. Well executed, well thought out plays. You couldn't be a football fan and not admire them. In the end they simply had more of that kind of play than we did.

e. I though Revis was wonderful again, and I thought the rest of the secondary played pretty well considering who and where they were playing..

3. Here are the things I really didn't like.

a. There were at least 2 occasions where the Pats could have gotten off the field if they had simply tackled better after the catch. That is one of the things the Pats have done so well during their 7 game streak. It wasn't like they were horrible, but just not as good.

b. I hated that last TD just before the half. No so much the pinpoint throw and catch, but the structural unsoundness of the the Coverage that seemed to allow no inside help after the catch. It was a very bad time to have a miscommunication

c. I really hated the refs, who came close to ruining one of the better played games the NFL has presented. The hands to the head on Browner on the Ayers sack was ludicrous, and the non-call on the most obvious text book offensive push off in the 2nd half were 2 key calls that kept Packer drives going, and kept the Pats on the field. The refs weren't the reason the Pats lost this game, but they didn't catch any breaks either.. In the end, crews like Korente's and Hoculi's do actual harm to the of the enjoyment of the games they ref

d. I hated that Brady continues to force the ball into his "in crowd" rather than take easy throws to others. Too many times I saw Brady look and then ignore guys like Hooman and Vareen in order to try and force something into Gronk. And you know what's worse? Watching my future HOF QB throw no fewer than 4 third down an long passes at least 5 yds in front of the first down marker. I can't excuse a rookie doing that, let alone the GOAT.

e. I hated that Dobson finally gets in a game and then immeidately pulls a hamstring. That poor kid can't catch a break.

d. Special teams didn't seem too special. KO's and punts seemed short and returns were almost non existent, not to mention Gotkowski's 2nd miss of the year.. This was a game that needed an ST boost and didn't get it.

5. If we manage a win in SD, this loss will be easier to take. GB is going to be tough to beat at home in the playoffs, so we could have a 2nd crack at them. Personally I like the idea of playing them again after a loss. It won't take much to swich these results around and it will be good to get some of the pressure to "be the best" back on some other teams. Looks like GB and Denver will go back to being the new flavors of the media's month, and I'm good with that.

It was good to watch a well played NFL game for a change. I wish the outcome was better. I fully expect it to be the next time. Carry on.

 

[supafly]

Green Bay is obviously a very tough opponent and they took advantage of mismatches just the same way that we do as well.

Hell, if you go and look out your front window, you'll still see Ninkovich chasing someone...

 

[supafly]

I am disappointed in the play of Logan Ryan. I really thought that he was going to be a solid depth/subpackage option, yet he's continuing to prove that he's not quite up to the challenge.

Sometimes I wonder if it wouldn't be better to have Butler getting those reps, but then I assume that he'd be in there if that were the case.

 

[Fencer]

Two breaks -- there also was a missed GB FG.

 

[Fencer]

I like that the Pats are still the top seed. But they do have to beat San Diego now to maintain that.

 

[patfanken]

I am disappointed in the play of Logan Ryan. I really thought that he was going to be a solid depth/subpackage option, yet he's continuing to prove that he's not quite up to the challenge.

Sometimes I wonder if it wouldn't be better to have Butler getting those reps, but then I assume that he'd be in there if that were the case.

Think about it this way. What is encouraging is that regardless of how you evaluate Ryan in this game, the very fact that the Pats have an option of Butler or Dennard getting those reps is positive. The thing that has me jacked up, is that in the past our "planB" in the secondary ran to Edelman or some other guy whose name I can't remember but had to be a starter for us.

No question Ryan was beaten on those 2 routes, but he wasn't that far off. Those passes were PERFECT.

 

[SVN]

not many teams are going to exploit your 3rd and 4th cornerbacks an entire game. Most QBs will want to go to their go to guys eventually. Even BB knows it and thats why I felt he was gracious today after the game because he knew he stopped the people he wanted to stop for the most part on that receiving core.

 

[ausbacker]

not many teams are going to exploit your 3rd and 4th cornerbacks an entire game. Most QBs will want to go to their go to guys eventually. Even BB knows it and thats why I felt he was gracious today after the game because he knew he stopped the people he wanted to stop for the most part on that receiving core.

I'm hopeful that what Rodgers did against the 3rd/4th/5th Corners is a little reminder to BB and the team that the weak links in the chain determine your strength. For the most part, Revis and Browner were pretty good. The Packers beat them with some fortunate decisions and by exploiting zone corners in man.

 

[luuked]

Like the title suggests, there isn't much insight needed for this one. On this particular night, the team that had the best QB, made the most big plays on offense and defense, made the fewest mistakes and in most cases flat out played better won the game. Aside from the obvious here are some observations that I hope will make me feel better if I write them down.

1. Here is the most curious thing. Despite being clearly out played in most areas of the game and playing their worst game in the last 7, with 3 minutes to go in the game the Pats had the ball on the GB 40 behind by 5 points. I think that's worth repeating. Despite all the frustration and angst, our home team was a microhair catch from taking the lead in a game without the aid of any TO's or big breaks. That's how good our team is. Bad marks for playaaing their B game in an important game, but they didn't get a single good break (outside of the Adams drop) and still managed to keep the game constantly within reach.

2. Here are some of the things I did like.

a. I liked that after the running plays they gave up to open the game, with one exception, they shut the run down for the rest of the game. It showed a very rapid adjustment that cost them only 3 points

b. I loved the disciplined rush. I know it often looked ineffective, but the reality was it worked very well....for the most part

c. The Pats defense really was quite good. Unfortunately it seemed like in every series there was that ONE play that the Packers hit for a big play, and even on many of those, they were decently well covered and extremely well exectuted by Rodgers.

d. I loved/hated watching those simply beautiful passes perfectly thrown to Adams on those double moves, and those passes perfectly dropped in there on Ninko, all of which led to Packer scores. Well executed, well thought out plays. You couldn't be a football fan and not admire them. In the end they simply had more of that kind of play than we did.

e. I though Revis was wonderful again, and I thought the rest of the secondary played pretty well considering who and where they were playing..

3. Here are the things I really didn't like.

a. There were at least 2 occasions where the Pats could have gotten off the field if they had simply tackled better after the catch. That is one of the things the Pats have done so well during their 7 game streak. It wasn't like they were horrible, but just not as good.

b. I hated that last TD just before the half. No so much the pinpoint throw and catch, but the structural unsoundness of the the Coverage that seemed to allow no inside help after the catch. It was a very bad time to have a miscommunication

c. I really hated the refs, who came close to ruining one of the better played games the NFL has presented. The hands to the head on Browner on the Ayers sack was ludicrous, and the non-call on the most obvious text book offensive push off in the 2nd half were 2 key calls that kept Packer drives going, and kept the Pats on the field. The refs weren't the reason the Pats lost this game, but they didn't catch any breaks either.. In the end, crews like Korente's and Hoculi's do actual harm to the of the enjoyment of the games they ref

d. I hated that Brady continues to force the ball into his "in crowd" rather than take easy throws to others. Too many times I saw Brady look and then ignore guys like Hooman and Vareen in order to try and force something into Gronk. And you know what's worse? Watching my future HOF QB throw no fewer than 4 third down an long passes at least 5 yds in front of the first down marker. I can't excuse a rookie doing that, let alone the GOAT.

e. I hated that Dobson finally gets in a game and then immeidately pulls a hamstring. That poor kid can't catch a break.

d. Special teams didn't seem too special. KO's and punts seemed short and returns were almost non existent, not to mention Gotkowski's 2nd miss of the year.. This was a game that needed an ST boost and didn't get it.

5. If we manage a win in SD, this loss will be easier to take. GB is going to be tough to beat at home in the playoffs, so we could have a 2nd crack at them. Personally I like the idea of playing them again after a loss. It won't take much to swich these results around and it will be good to get some of the pressure to "be the best" back on some other teams. Looks like GB and Denver will go back to being the new flavors of the media's month, and I'm good with that.

It was good to watch a well played NFL game for a change. I wish the outcome was better. I fully expect it to be the next time. Carry on.

I agree with everything.

I thought the secondary played pretty well except for that last play before halftime. I really didn't understand why we had to do a blitz disguise with people falling back on that play. I know it was a third down, but I am not sure if it is worth the risk with seconds before halftime. If we would have set up our LBs normally, I doubt that Nelson would have been able to make it through traffic to the endzone.

As said before I found that our secondary played reasonably well. Rodgers and his coaching staff found weaknesses in our CB and LB corps and were able to create mismatches with their 3rd and 4th receiver. This is exactly what we usually do, so kudos to the Packers for a well executed offensive gameplan.

Despite all the crying and shouting in the game thread it was pretty clear that this will not be a pass rush game. As usual against mobile QBs we play contain and only attack situationally. I am not surprised by that and I don't think that adding pass rushers would change anything. Yes we might get a few more sacks here and there but I doubt that BB will change his philosophy regarding mobile QBs.

In terms of our offense, drives were killed by unnecessary shots down the field on first downs, holding penalties and a mediocre performance by the OL. Also it felt like our coaching staff outsmarted themselves with the gameplan this week. For the 4-5 games in a row where they got the offensive gameplan completely right, here they didn't. Maybe somebody can chime in but I wonder if McCarthy essentially dared us to pass by situationally putting more bodies in the box. Otherwise I don't understand why we didn't rely more on the running game.

All in all, this game felt like a repeat of a typical playoff game for us in the last few years where we could never get anything going reliably on offense.

All that being said, I think this loss comes at the right time. It requires a lot of maturity to stay grounded riding a 7 game winning streak and a little punch to the stomach might make some of the players realize that not everything will just fall into their laps but that they have to work for it. Every day. Good timing to spend 7 days away from home with BB.

I really like that some of our deficiencies were exposed now, because we still have 4-5 weeks to work on them them until it really counts. I wonder whether the Packers essentially showed their hand, and if it really comes to a Superbowl against them we would be able to prepare better.

Finally, to keep everything in perspective. We were one Gronk TD reception away from stealing this one despite a mediocre performance. This was not a blowout, we didn't have any major breakdowns and stopped their offense where it counts. I don't like the result, but I can live with it. 4 wins to go.


Oh and yeah, unless Rodgers suddenly collapses down the road I think he is a worthy MVP. If we would have stopped the Packers at the end and Brady would have been able to steal the game with a late fourth quarter drive, then he might have had a shot at the MVP title, but now it seems unlikely.. anyway Rodgers deserves it

 

[DarrylS]

What I search for every day after a game, and once again spot on..

It was a good game, and seemed more lopsided than the score indicated, but that is how good our team is.

I thought ST's were off, not sure if it was Ninkovich long snapping or the weather. Several kickoffs were returned and I did not think the punting was all that great.. could be wrong, but the Packers seemed to have had a lot of good field position.

Whatever the D did in the second half, should have happened sooner.. didn't Rodgers amass 209 passing yards in the first half??

Brady was pissed, and that is probably a good thing.. as if and when he gets complacent after a loss such as this might signal the end..

Hochuli needs to realize that he is not who the fans pay to see, despite his arms... what an attention hound.

The Pats only had 57 offensive snaps, which may have been the GB strategy, keep Brady off the field...

 

[patriot1136]

Yeah he definitely likes to take us to the gun show

 

[mosi's man]

If my math is correct, the Packers had the ball eight times and scored on six drives, with the last drive resulting in a kneel-down. They missed a 41 yard field goal and dropped two passes for touchdowns, one an easy one and a second that would have required a nice catch. The packers punted once.

I don't see a pass rush built for containment rather than pressure as being adequate against a qb like Rogers. I think we can contain at the edges and maintain discipline but have to get more push up the middle. Our secondary, which played superbly overall, needs more help. In a hostile environment against arguably the best team in football the Pats defense hung in there, but I bet Packer fans are thinking that they could have executed better as well, and if they had, it wouldn't have been nearly as close.

 

[mayoclinic]

The Pats defense really was quite good. Unfortunately it seemed like in every series there was that ONE play that the Packers hit for a big play, and even on many of those, they were decently well covered and extremely well exectuted by Rodgers.

Green Bay had 4 receptions of 30 yards or more, and punted only once all game. The bottom line on D is that the defense couldn't get off the field and gave Aaron Rodgers too much TOP and too many chances, and he made too many big plays. The defense wasn't terrible, and most of the credit goes to GB's execution, but "quite good" seems like bit of a stretch. Close but not quite good enough is what comes to mind.

But the offense struggled much more in this game than I expected. Didn't see that one coming.

This was a winnable game if we executed just a bit better on both sides of the ball, but we didn't, they did, and they obviously deserved to win, as you say. You can't execute poorly on the road against a team of this caliber and expect to come away with a W.

 

[Brady6]

I'm hopeful that what Rodgers did against the 3rd/4th/5th Corners is a little reminder to BB and the team that the weak links in the chain determine your strength. For the most part, Revis and Browner were pretty good. The Packers beat them with some fortunate decisions and by exploiting zone corners in man.

Alfonzo Dennard is a good CB who should not be at the bottom of our depth chart as he has been this season. He should be the #3 CB unless we are playing a slot CB that Arrington matches up better with. I get the need for discipline but sometimes I am confused by the decision to bury players like Dennard, Dobson, Gray, etc. on the depth chart.

 

[ausbacker]

Green Bay had 4 receptions of 30 yards or more, and punted only once all game. The bottom line on D is that the defense couldn't get off the field and gave Aaron Rodgers too much TOP and too many chances, and he made too many big plays. The defense wasn't terrible, and most of the credit goes to GB's execution, but "quite good" seems like bit of a stretch. Close but not quite good enough is what comes to mind.

But the offense struggled much more in this game than I expected. Didn't see that one coming.

This was a winnable game if we executed just a bit better on both sides of the ball, but we didn't, they did, and they obviously deserved to win, as you say. You can't execute poorly on the road against a team of this caliber and expect to come away with a W.

I don't like to use this word too often but some of the throws Rodgers made into traffic and under tight coverage were perfect. If he wasn't playing the Patriots and doing that to the side we support, you would tip your hat to him.

The Patriots were beaten by their failure to execute and some moments of brilliance from a red hot QB at the height of his power. Despite all that, they had a chance to win. If ever there was a point to be encouraged, this was it.

 

[Galeb]

It is hard to take serious any analysis that doesn't even mention the Pats OL and DL getting manhandled.

 

[Oswlek]

Good post. A few times last week I was an inch away from posting this prediction:

I have a feeling that NE will drop this one against Green Bay.... their last loss of the year.

But I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I didn't want to jinx it and the team was playing so well that betting against them seemed wrong on too many levels. But that knot in my gut never quite relaxed....

I'm sure we'll see a lot of gnashing of teeth and fretting about the #1 seed in the next few days, but I suspect this team will put on a performance in SD that reminds everyone why they were so confident heading into Lambeau.

d. I loved/hated watching those simply beautiful passes perfectly thrown to Adams on those double moves, and those passes perfectly dropped in there on Ninko, all of which led to Packer scores. Well executed, well thought out plays. You couldn't be a football fan and not admire them. In the end they simply had more of that kind of play than we did.

Those plays drove me nuts. As soon as I saw the formations, I yelled, "They're iso-ing Nink! Someone give him some help!"

I was great execution and terrific scheming, but it was frustrating to see NE get taken advantage of so easily.

a. I liked that after the running plays they gave up to open the game, with one exception, they shut the run down for the rest of the game. It showed a very rapid adjustment that cost them only 3 points

I thought the same thing. When they held them to 3 on that drive (with three extra shots due to a penalty on 3rd down), I felt good. A 3 point lesson on adjusting to Green Bay's running attack. I can live with that.

a. There were at least 2 occasions where the Pats could have gotten off the field if they had simply tackled better after the catch. That is one of the things the Pats have done so well during their 7 game streak. It wasn't like they were horrible, but just not as good.

They were all out of sorts. On one play the receiver had 4 yards to go with three defenders converging and still plowed his way through. As soon as I saw that, I knew it wasn't going to be NE's night. The fact that they had a legitimate chance to win at the end still astounds me.

Did anyone see the quick screen to Edelman where the DB literally ran out of the way of a Vollmer block? #38 I think? It was pretty damn funny, looked a lot like the embarrassing gif of that KC rookie from a few weeks back.

 

[luuked]

Green Bay had 4 receptions of 30 yards or more, and punted only once all game. The bottom line on D is that the defense couldn't get off the field and gave Aaron Rodgers too much TOP and too many chances, and he made too many big plays. The defense wasn't terrible, and most of the credit goes to GB's execution, but "quite good" seems like bit of a stretch. Close but not quite good enough is what comes to mind.

But the offense struggled much more in this game than I expected. Didn't see that one coming.

This was a winnable game if we executed just a bit better on both sides of the ball, but we didn't, they did, and they obviously deserved to win, as you say. You can't execute poorly on the road against a team of this caliber and expect to come away with a W.

A handful of plays going the other direction and we talk about how great our D is.

With opponents like that games often come down to 6-10 plays.

If Chung is one step closer on Rodgers (TE), that bomb is an incompletion. Similarly, we might force them to another FG if Devin's takes a different angle on the Nelson TD.

Those are exactly the plays we made against Denver. This time we didn't win those key plays and GB executed so kudos to them.

All I am saying is let's not be too negative.

 

[mayoclinic]

A handful of plays going the other direction and we talk about how great our D is.

With opponents like that games often come down to 6-10 plays.

If Chung is one step closer on Rodgers (TE), that bomb is an incompletion. Similarly, we might force them to another FG if Devin's takes a different angle on the Nelson TD.

Those are exactly the plays we made against Denver. This time we didn't win those key plays and GB executed so kudos to them.

All I am saying is let's not be too negative.

Isn't that what "close but not quite good enough" means?

I'm one of the biggest defensive homers on this board. But the fact is, we didn't execute when we had to, on both sides of the ball. They did. That's why they won. Fix the execution, and the result is different.

 

[mgteich]

LINE PLAY
Ken's analysis is great as usual, but the elephant in the room was the play of the lines.

Brady had little time to choose his targets. Rodgers had seconds more.

COACHING - EXTRA BLOCKING AND THE RUNNING GAME
IMHO, we were out-coached in two aspects of the game. We do have a running team. GB was awful against the run. Develin played almost not at all. Cannon was used very little. It seems that a running game might have worked for more than it did. Obviously, an extra blocker might have also help the passing game.

COACHING - COVERAGE AT THE END OF THE HALF
Where was the help in the middle?

DEFENSIVE LINE SCHEMES
How can Rodgers have so much time? Did we use a 3 man rush too much (as the announcers said)? Was Ninkovich the spy for a couple of series? Rodgers ran around at will. Belichick is a master at defensive scheming it didn't show. We know what happens when one of the top three passers in the league gets enough time for the entire game; the opposing team loses.

The miracle was that the team was still in the game at then. In the end, the bend and don't break worked almost well enough (after the awesome 0 for 4 in the red zone). In the end, it was the offense that couldn't score 27 points, and couldn't score at the end f the game, with lots of time on the clock.